Teen's Deadly Dare with a Slug

In 2010, an Australian teenager named Sam Ballard was dared by his friends to eat a slug crawling across a patio. He was unaware that the slug harbored rat lungworm disease, a brain-damaging parasite. Shortly after eating it, Sam experienced severe leg pain and weakness. Doctors confirmed the diagnosis of rat lungworm, and he soon fell into a coma that lasted 420 days. He woke up paralyzed and in constant need of care. Sam passed away in 2018, eight years after the tragic dare.

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